White House Hotel, London

I was pleasantly engaged in a chat with three fellow travelers on my journey and all of a sudden, from behind, a full rear assault by a woman of a certain age and a somewhat familiar face. She stormed me from behind and I didn’t see it coming whatsoever. She forced her hand in mine and said, “Hello, I’m Mary…”

Well, it all took me by such great surprise and I’m naturally used to calling people by their first names, that I replied, “Hi Mary, its very nice to meet you.”

White House Hotel, London

On our tour of the Houses of Parliament, we continued on from the House of Lords through the Central Lobby which is the lobby that lies between both of the houses of parliament. The rules of the House provide that any constituent, at any time can come into this lobby and demand to see their representative. These days of course ‘lobbying’ is a bit more organized than strolling in unannounced.

London

We had an 8:45 departure this crisp Monday morning from the hotel. First stop The Palace of Westminster or more commonly known as the Houses of Parliament.

I have been to London many times before, and there’s much to see but I’ve never been to visit the inside of the Houses of Parliament prior to this trip. Our guides were able to secure a tour for us thanks to the courtesy of The Hon Nicholas Soames MP, grandson of Sir Winston.

Endel Street, London

Time for a ‘Full English’ breakfast

I had an excellent night’s sleep last night after being out at a drinks party at a friend’s flat over in Marylebone until 1:30 AM.

What jet lag?

I’m sitting here at a small sidewalk café just off Covent Garden after having had an excellent little full-English breakfast at The Old Express in this tucked-away little market just off Park Lane in Mayfair; The Shepherds Market. I thought this time of year was supposed to be before the tourist season begins but the streets are packed with shoppers and assorted sightseers. It’s astounding how many languages that one hears while strolling about in the City.

Heathrow Airport

Catching the Heathrow Express to Paddington

I caught the Heathrow Express and if you haven’t ever done this it’s the new train that goes directly to Paddington Station. It gets you from Heathrow to the City in 15 minutes. All the cabbies are of course quite upset about it, but such is progress.

Last year when I was in London I actually got a stern lecture by a cabbie, because the doorman at the hotel asked where we were going and I said, “Heathrow.”

Somewhere Above the Pole

Compliments to the Staff

The flight was excellent. We arrived on the flight to Heathrow a few minutes early and I actually had very nice service from two flight attendants, both of them English.

Well, actually from one flight attendant.

The nice one was quite sweet and sincere and the other had been flying with United since the Magna Carta was signed. I gave them both the little appreciation comment cards that United sends out every so often. I gave the card to the first one because she was indeed very sweet and to the second one because I thought she really needed something to cheer her up. She seemed in dire need of it actually. I had a nice meal, several glasses of wine and a sleeping pill.

There was a very delightful lady with whom I shared the row. She is a nurse from West Virginia and living in Honolulu. She and I were both reading but had a very enjoyable conversation over dinner. She was just newly engaged and is travelling to Scotland with a girlfriend for a week touring around with no plans at all—just a list of B&B’s around the country. Sounds refreshingly fun.

I woke up an hour before landing with breakfast of fruit and pastry. I’m sure it’s difficult to bake at 30,000 feet. Seriously, do things rise at this altitude? I’d recommend sticking with the fresh fruit.

We arrived about mid-day as fresh as new.